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How Wisconsin Badgers could shape the College Football Playoff picture in 2025

Wisconsin will face six teams on their schedule with a real shot of making the College Football Playoff. None of them can afford a blemish on their record with a loss to the Badgers.
Lorin Cox|
Nov 16, 2024; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell during the game against the Oregon Ducks at Camp Randall Stadium.
Nov 16, 2024; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell during the game against the Oregon Ducks at Camp Randall Stadium. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

The Wisconsin Badgers have almost no shot of making the College Football Playoff in 2025, but they could still have a lot of influence on who gets in and where they are seeded.

On the Badgers' grueling schedule, they face six teams with a real shot of contending for the postseason.

Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana and Illinois will need every win they can get to secure the highest-seed possible in the playoff.

They can't afford a blemish on their record with a loss to Wisconsin.

If the Badgers start pulling off some upsets, they could really shape what the postseason looks like for everyone else.

They came close to knocking off the No. 1 ranked Ducks last season at Camp Randall Stadium. Had Oregon not gone undefeated, and carried a loss to an unranked Wisconsin team, they would not have been the top seed in the playoff.

Teams like Michigan, Indiana and Illinois could be on the fringe of the postseason this year, and one extra loss to the Badgers could be the difference between making and missing the playoff.

The path to the National Championship will run through Wisconsin for many of the top teams in the country. It's up to Luke Fickell and company to stand in their way.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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